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| Russia suspends flights of Tu-22 bombers |
| | www.chinaview.cn 2004-07-09 17:00:35 |
MOSCOW, July 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The crash of a Tu-22M3 bomber on Thursday has resulted in the suspension of flights of all such warplanes, a Russian Air Force spokesman said Friday.
The Air Force ordered that all Tu-22M3 be grounded until the causes of the air crash are made clear, Interfax quoted spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying.
A Tu-22M3 long-range bomber crashed during a regular flight at around 11:40 p.m. Moscow time (1940 GMT) in the Novgorod region, northern Russia, killing all four crew members.
The crew members had been ordered to bail out of the aircraft, but for some reason they failed to do so, a source with the Defense Ministry said.
Equipment failure and human error might be behind the accident,said the source, adding that the flight recorders are being studied to reveal the real causes.
Drobyshevsky said the bomber was carrying no weapons when the crash occurred.
In September, a Tu-160 warplane of the Air Force crashed in southwestern Russia due to technical malfunctions, killing four pilots on board.
The Tu-22 was the first supersonic bomber put in service with the Soviet Air Force in 1962. The warplane was renamed Tu-22M3 after it was updated and performed its maiden flight in 1977. The bomber could carry high-explosive bombs weighing 24 tons and cruise missiles. Enditem |
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